We just had to share this fascinating post from the website dedicated to the work and life of Max Fleischer's son, and famed movie director, Richard Fleischer﻿! Richard's son, and the President and CEO of Fleischer Studios, Mark Fleischer, recounts this riveting story from the 1961 set of Barabbas -

Some years ago my father, Richard Fleischer, was directing the movie “Barabbas” in Rome. One of the most dramatic scenes of the movie was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. At the time that my father was preparing to shoot that scene, a total eclipse of the sun was scheduled to occur at nearby Sienna.

Being an adventurous and creative soul, my father moved the entire company to Sienna to shoot that scene during the total solar eclipse, something that no one had ever done before.

This being the first time, nobody had a clue how to light the set. Using their best guesses, my father and the director of photography set up three cameras each with different settings, crossed their fingers and waited for the sun to almost completely disappear, at which point my father yelled “action.”​The world darkened, a strange and eerie light embraced the assembled crew and, against this backdrop the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was re-enacted. The filmmakers’ guesses turned out to be correct, and one of the most uniquely beautiful motion picture scenes came into being.

You can check out the amazing eclipse footage in this scene from Barabbas here!

That's right! On Sunday, November 13, TCM is dedicating an entire evening of entertainment to the work of Max, Dave and Richard Fleischerand it's all co-hosted by Mark Fleischer, Max's grandson and the CEO of Fleischer Studios.

This amazing evening begins with two Fleischer Studios classics: Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor(1936)andPopeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves(1937).Together, these films represent two of only three "two-reeler" or long-form color films the Fleischers made featuring Popeye.

If you're interested in learning more about the creation of these very special films, take a look atMagic in Miami in our online museum. The exhibit features a 1938episode ofPopular Science that details the process of animation during this period, and even features the making of one of these amazing long format films.

The TMC evening continues with two films directed by Max's son, the acclaimed film director Richard Fleischer: the noir classic The Narrow Margin (1952) followed by the sci-fi thriller Soylent Green (1973) starring Charlton Heston. Thanks to animation historian Ray Pointer for helping to make this wonderful event into a reality. Ray's upcoming book The Art and Invention of Max Fleischer: An American Animation Pioneer is due to be released in December of this year.

From start to finish that's more than 4 hours of Fleischer films, covering 35 years of film making, and featuring 3 generations of the Fleischer family. You don't want to miss this!

In the Small World Department, Fleischer Studios’ historian Ginny Mahoney was recently contacted by high school sophomore Louisa Goldman. A budding young journalist, Louisa was working on an article about Lucas Gray, an animator living in Santa Monica, who was heavily influenced by the work of early pioneering animators, including Max Fleischer and Fleischer Studios.

Ginny and Louisa had a lovely long conversation about Max and the history of Fleischer Studios, and Louisa wrote up her article. It wasn’t until her family read the article that Louisa found out she was not only writing about Fleischer Studios, she was related to it! And in some very important and foundational ways.

As it turns out, Louisa is related to Roger Goldman, who’s related to Frank Goldman. Frank Goldman is credited with making a huge difference in the survival of Max and Dave's fledgling animation business back in the 1920s. Here’s an excerpt fromOut of the Inkwell, Richard Fleischer’s biography about his father, Max Fleischer:

"To cut a long and depressing story short, Max and Dave found it impossible to work for Weiss and quit the company. Shortly after they resigned, Weiss declared bankruptcy and disappeared.

"Max and Dave were well and truly in deep trouble. They had barely enough money to hire one or two animators but not enough to rent studio space. Things were what can best be described as bleak— until, one night, my father came home looking somehow strange. I suppose I’d never before seen him with an expression of shock on his face. He came into the kitchen and said to my mother: “Essie, sit down. I’ve got something to tell you.” She sat down, looking puzzled and a little scared. My father seemed to be fighting back some inner emotion. Then, quietly, he told her the news. A dear friend of his, Frank Goldman, one of the owners of Carpenter-Goldman, a film- processing laboratory based in Long Island City, had heard of the fix Max was in and had offered him space in his company’s quarters for free— and for as long as he wanted it.

"My mother sat there dumbfounded for a moment, then slowly put her hands to her mouth and started to cry. My father stood there, his lower lip trembling, his eyes blinking as they filled with tears. She got up and embraced him. He was now laughing and crying at the same time, and so was she. It was a tableau that has never faded from my mind. I was thirteen at the time and old enough to recognize that my father’s reaction was not simply one of relief but one of being tremendously touched by the friendship of Frank Goldman."

And if that’s not enough, it appears Louisa is also related to J.F. Leventhal. Mr. Leventhal was a very early partner of Max’s and together they created the very first military training films – for WWI.

So, relatively speaking, this was a fabulous connection for both Louisa – and Fleischer Studios!